Everyone changes with time. A day, a week, a month, a year... they all count. So how much can a group of rag tag 4th graders from P.S. 118 change with junior high, high school, and a whole bunch of history between those seven years? A whole lot.

Years Later

Penumbra

As soon as Phoebe closed her blue flip phone she was ready to fly out the door. Sid came down the stairs during her brief conversation with Helga and raised an eyebrow, and Phoebe answered the unspoken question, "My house." With that Sid and Phoebe left 781 St. Narke Avenue and silently made their way to 1010 Hurter Lane.

There was nothing to say, just time to wait.

Sid and Phoebe sat in the overly opulent interior decorated living room, pretending that they were actually having some semblance of a conversation, but both knowing they weren't interested.

Phone numbly made the calls to Bliss, Richardson, and the police station as if she was on auto, but these days she was always on auto. Her mind wandered elsewhere as her physical body was stuck sitting in a living as she waited her arsonist friend of hers to come by so that the police could arrest her...Now she understood why her mind went onto auto, it wasn't ready for all this set in... it didn't want it to set in.

So she sat tranquilly in her seat.

Sid on the other hand, chose to stare at a red mark that marred the cream and golden theme room. He remembered that it was caused by a little accident involving himself, Helga, and the last red icee in Phoebe's freezer.

That was almost last year, Sid thought to himself as he found his eyes almost diving into the red marking in the room, last year was a good year... how did everything change... why did it change...

A phone rang and jilted them both out of their waking daydreams before Phoebe haphazardly made her way across the room to answer the phone only to find out it was a telemarketer.

Who exactly in their right minds calls up someone's house to advertise foot powder on Christmas Eve?

"Shut the hell up." Phoebe said to the young woman on the other end of the phone, ignoring the gasp of indignation before slamming the cream colored phone back down on the hook. She sat back in her seat on the cream and gold sofa and re-immerse herself in the world of dreams once more until she and Sid heard the doorbell ring. They both calmly got off of the couch and made there way to the door. Phoebe didn't even bother looking through the peep hole, she just slammed the door open...

...And there was Helga in a bright blue pea coat, a bright oversized red hat jammed onto her head, and a bandage wrapped sloppy around her left hand.

Phoebe and Sid stared at her.

Helga stared back at them.

It was a contest of wills... unfortunately for Helga, Phoebe was unwilling... which was why Helga was so shocked to have something hot swipe across her face.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Helga couldn't feel a thing, she still felt numb, but she did take her right hand to hold her now hot and red cheek. Stretching out her shoulders and neck she looked directly in Phoebe's dark eyes with her own light ones and said, "I do suppose I deserve that."

Sid said nothing but did find himself interested in the airspace right next to Helga's ear, Phoebe was feeling her numbness melt, her brain was shifting from auto to manual, and her brain realized that she was mad, Mad Hatter hopping mad. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Helga smiled and stared at Phoebe with glazed eyes. "Are you going to let me in?"

"Not until you tell me what the hell you were thinking!"

Helga looked at Sid, "Will you let me in?"

Sid looked down at Phoebe then at Helga before he moved himself and Phoebe out of the way to let Helga into Phoebe's house. He gathered Helga into his arms and began to walk her towards the living room, right as they were about to turn the corner her turned around to Phoebe and said, "You coming?" Then turned right back around and continued on his journey.

Phoebe stood by the door looking out into the empty streets, remembering that the news reporter said that it was supposed to snow around seven PM, making tomorrow a white Christmas. After a few calming breaths she was able to close the front door without slamming it, but didn't bother to lock it, then she made her way into the kitchen without stomping the whole way there. She needed to do something and her only real coping mechanism was cooking. She had been cooking up a storm for the last week, why stop now?

As she got out a large mixing bowl she glimpsed the clock only to realize Helga was ten minutes early, but that was not what mattered. What mattered was the fact that her best friend was about to be arrested for arson in ten minutes, not that she was ten minutes early. And that was when Phoebe began to slam cabinets open, slam ingredients onto the counter, and to mumble about "stupid blonde arsonist."

Sid and Helga winced as they heard chorus of slams resound from the kitchen. Sid rested an arm around Helga's shoulder and pulled her closer to him on the couch that they sat on. Helga automatically curled closer to him, resting her head on his chest and bringing up her legs onto the couch, hugging them close to her chest. Sid gently lifted Helga's hat off of her head as they both heard the loud cling-gg of a metal mixing bowl being slammed onto the floor and spin on the ground.

When Helga's hat was removed Sid was greeted by Helga's butchered blonde locks, and even though her hair had hacked edges, not even one strand passed Helga's chin. Sid said nothing for a while as she threw the hat into some unimportant corner of the room. He simply sat by Helga's slide for three minutes.

On the fourth minute he spoke, "Tell me what happened." Helga tried to shift out of Sid's hold, but he would not allow it, he only held her tighter, and let his chin rest on top of her head. "Just tell me Helga, it doesn't even matter if you purposefully started the fire or accidentally started the fire... just speak to me..."

Sid's gentle approach broke through to Helga and she told him everything that happened from Hilda's empty room to the fight with Lexie and Bob to finding the locks changed to burning the house to hiding out in the Hotel Flamingo, she omitted the parts about Stella at the cemetery, but that wasn't important what had happened the night before... or was it earlier in the morning... Helga had lost her concept of time. By the time she had finished telling Sid everything she knew that she was crying, and was inwardly surprised that she actually did have tears left to cry. Phoebe, who had been listening by the doorway, came in with a tray of brownies, three cups of milk and a box of tissues.

She sat them down at the center table in front of Sid and Helga before moving to sit down on the other side of Helga. She gave her a hug and said, "I made these yesterday." before giving Helga brownie. There were some unspoken words as Helga mindlessly munched on the brownie that Phoebe gave her, but truthfully, they did not need to be said.

And that's how Dr. Joi Bliss, Ms. Artemis Richardson, and the police found the three friends when they came to 1010 Hurter Lane, sitting down next to each other, eating brownies, and drinking milk.

One policeman with a thick red moustache spoke first reading Helga her rights before slapping some cuffs onto her thin wrist. The policeman's partner, a policewoman with her long blonde hair tamed by the french braid it was in, was the next to speak, "Fortunately for you, someone has already put up your bail money."

Immediately Helga looked at Phoebe who just threw a smile and shrugged her small shoulders. Helga was led outside into the cop car where she able to look out the window to see Sid and Phoebe inside of the house staring out of the window, staring at her. She kissed the window, not caring that it was probably filled with more germs than a toilet bowl just before the car drove off with her inside of it.

Sid and Phoebe stared as the car disappeared after the corner until Phoebe broke their silent vigil and walked away from the window.

Sid raised a dark eyebrow. "Where are you going?"

Phoebe smirked "I've got to go make sure my cookies don't burn." With that she vanished into the kitchen as Sid stood by the window, this time, he actually found himself enjoying the chorus slams.

(Y/L)

After dealing with a whole ordeal down at the police station, Helga found herself in one Ms. Artemis Richardson's office a day later, spread out on a bright blue chaise that seemed out of place in the lawyers office. It was Christmas day and she was still wearing the same clothes she had, had on for forty eight hours straight... And for some strange reason, Helga was not bothered by the fact.

"Helga, you do realize that you're being brought up on charges of arson, endangerment of lives, assault, and battery."

Helga studied the world beyond the ceiling to floor window of Arty's office, it was the ideal white Christmas... Just like when it snowed in me and her back in 9th grade... she loved the snow... she loved the cold... "Yup."

"It seems that Judge Patton is handling your case, I'm trying to strike a deal with out of court."

"Okay." Helga said, still not really even hearing a word that Minerva had to say.

"It will probably include a fine, some community service, and some counseling... that is, if everything falls through with Bliss and we plea that you had a momentary lapse of sanity. Is that okay with you Helga?"

Reaching a pale hand to the white bulb that illuminated the lawyer's office, Helga only had two words to say, "That's fine."

The blonde woman glared at Helga with narrowed light brown eyes over the top of rimless Armani reading glasses. "Are you going to keep acting so nonchalant Helga?"

Helga looked at the thirty-something old woman, "I'm not acting nonchalant, Arty."

Arty rolled her light brown eyes before slamming a thick manilla folder down on her desk, "I'm bringing Joi in, I can't deal with you much longer." With that said Minerva marched out of the office and one Dr. Joi Bliss found herself being pushed into the room with the door shut– or rather slammed– loudly behind her.

"It seems that you've gotten underneath Artemis' skin." Bliss said once the ringing stopped in her ears.

Helga focused her attention on Dr. Bliss for a moment to say, "I've been doing that a lot these days." Helga then refocused her attention to looking outside of her window.

Bliss ignored the comment, instead she pulled up a chair beside the brightly colored chaise Helga was lying in.

Then there was silence.

And more silence for five minutes.

"I heard what happened with your younger sister, I'm sorry to hear that." Bliss said purposely keeping an eye on any signs of facial change or even a body movement of patient.

Bliss got what she wanted when Helga's body visibly tensed up. "Thank you, the doctors said that it was painless for her."

"Hmmm... I see... I suppose she's in a better place now, hm?"

Helga turned onto her side so that Bliss was facing her back, "I'm sure that she's... in a better place now."

"With your mother I suppose, hm?"

Helga made a small gesture with her hand towards the ceiling, knowing that Bliss knew she was referring to something beyond the ceiling. "Yes, I suppose she's... with my mother."

"That's good, right?"

"Very good."

"Okay, now tell me exactly why you can't you say her name?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Bliss."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about... this is exactly what happened... what... six... seven... eight years ago? You know what I'm talking about. I remember the day you left your last session the summer after 8th grade, you said you never wanted to have to see me again... at least inside of an office... look where you found yourself again, Helga." By this time Helga had plugged her ears with her fingers, but she could still hear Bliss no matter how hard she was trying to block the older woman out. "I thought you were better than this Helga."

"Shut up, you don't know me." Helga whispered fiercely, still with her back to the psychiatrist.

"Really Helga? I know that your destructive tendencies tend to get the better of you whenever you trying to hide from yourself... You were a bully in elementary to avoid having to confront yourself about your true feelings and true nature that was so different from the bully that everyone at P.S. 118 knew to love to hate."

"Shut up."

"In junior high you still carried this large chip from elementary school that became even larger with Miriam Hope Reynolds Pataki's death and with a certain Olga Gerlinde Pataki, now just simply Olga Chesterfield, staying in the same house as you, and let's not forget about one Mr. Bob Gerent Pataki making life hard.. Hmmm? You didn't want to confront the reality that had become your life... you ran away more than twice in 8th grade, got arrested, and had a knack for finding bad boys to keep your company, like that Ian character... oh, and let's not forget Mr. Tristan Nikolai."

"Shut up Bliss."

"But then you said you changed that you had found someone that needed you as much as them..."

"Shut up."

"You had found someone who needed someone to love and hey, maybe you could even love them back."

"Shut up!"

"You had found Hil–"

Helga turned around, lifting herself into a sitting position, and glared at the older woman with narrowed light blue eyes, "SHUT UP! If you dare say her name I swear to the mother fucking lord of lords that I will kick your ass here and now!"

Bliss closed her mouth. At least she did, for a moment. "Helga until you want help, you are going to go through cycle again and again and again... and this time, I won't help you with the Patton, if you don't get your act together, I'm not going to help get you out of juvenile detention... who knows they might even try and get away with holding your case long enough that you'll be eighteen when they convict you and you go to jail. Make up your mind Pataki, you need to know what you want to do." Bliss put a folded paper by Helga's chair before getting up from her own and began heading to the door. "You have two weeks."

"Fuck you."

Bliss smiled. "Thanks, but no thanks, you're really not my type and you're a bit too young." Then the psychiatrist left office without even bothering to look back, leaving one Helga Pataki sitting in a blue chaise with a folded note crumbled in one of her pale hands.

Arty reentered the room with two cups of dark coffee. Helga watched with veiled interest, not sure if one cup was for her or if both cups were for the disgruntled Arty Richardson who looked like she needed both cups. Minerva took a seat where Bliss once sat and handed over the styrofoam cup filled with dark liquid to Helga, "So are you ready to be serious now, Helga?"

Helga smiled down at the small dark pool before taking a sip of the warm liquid, it was so bitter compared to hot chocolate. The two tasted nothing alike; maybe that's why Helga decided to dub coffee as her new favorite warm beverage.

Not because she needed to, but because it was different.

(Y/L)

Sorry, but I still don't own Hey Arnold! I do own YL. But I do own the idea and concepts of YL, oh, and anything you recognize, is probably not mine. The next chapter will have all my notes.

Next Chapter: Me and My Shadow

The review button demands that you click it...as do I...So click I say, CLICK!

S.L. Cipher– The Queen of Eville (No this not a spelling mistake but a higher echelon of evil, look it up in The New Cipher Dictionary of Cipherous Lexiconography) who will gladly accept all criticisms, advice, reviews, praises, and flames with a large Cheshire Cat Smile. Why the Cheshire Cat Smile? Why, because Cheshire Cat Smiles will always piss people off and Cipher loves pissing people off because it is exceptional fun... Especially when they try and attack you. Which is exactly why when one wields the Cheshire Cat Smile, it is important that they must also wield a mace and a sword.

('·.̧('·.̧··̧.·'́)̧.·'́)
«·́̈·The Cipher ·́̈·»
(̧.·'́(̧.·'́ ̈ '·.̧)'·.̧.)

Top of Form

Bottom of Form